Multi-domain login and messaging

ABSTRACT

A method, a computer readable medium and a system of multi-domain login and messaging are provided. The method for multi-domain login comprises inputting a local password by an agent, accessing a password vault with the local password, and retrieving at least one hidden password from the password vault, and logging the agent into at least one agent application using the at least one hidden password. The method for multi-domain messaging comprises retrieving information of an agent from a database, retrieving at least one skill group to which the agent belongs from the information, retrieving a message linked to the at least one skill group, and sending the message to the agent.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No.11/565,680 entitled MAINTAINING A WORK SCHEDULE, filed on Dec. 1, 2006,U.S. Ser. No. 11/565,679 entitled DYNAMICALLY ALLOCATING A WORKSCHEDULE, filed on Dec. 1, 2006, U.S. Ser. No. 11/565,677 entitledOFFERING UPTIME ADJUSTMENTS TO A WORK SCHEDULE, filed on Dec. 1, 2006,U.S. Ser. No. 11/565,676 entitled PROPOSING DOWNTIME ADJUSTMENTS TO AWORK SCHEDULE, filed on Dec. 1, 2006, and U.S. Ser. No. 11/565,681entitled EVENT BASED FORECASTING A WORK SCHEDULE, filed on Dec. 1, 2006,the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

The present application is also related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/942,760 entitled MULTI-DOMAIN LOGIN MESSAGINGAND PRESENCE REGISTRATION and U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/942,759 entitled MAINTAINING PER-SEAT LICENSING ACROSS MULTIPLE HOMEAGENTS, filed on even date herewith, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to an improved multiple domainlogin procedure and messaging. Still more particularly, the presentdisclosure provides a method, a system, and a computer readable mediumcomprising instructions for automated multi-domain login and messaging.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Historically, management and communications with a large employeeworkforce has been a complex and time-consuming task. With regard tomanaging large groups of employees, it is difficult to predict whichapplications they will need access to or data from or what employeepreferences would be from day to day. Additionally, appropriate andtimely communication with a set of workers can be time consuming anddifficult.

A password is a form of secret authentication data that is used tocontrol access to a resource. The password is kept secret from those notallowed access, and those wishing to gain access are tested on whetheror not they know the password and are granted or denied accessaccordingly. Keeping track of multiple passwords to multiple resourcesis time consuming and prone to error.

The current state of the art for login of employees to multiple domains,applications and environments is to have the employee individually loginto each required system. A need was felt for an automated login thatwould manage a set of hidden passwords for a number of applications andallow a user to access those password protected resources utilizing onelocal password. Communications to groups consist of group communicationsfor each group that the employee or employer places the worker in. Aneed was additionally felt for directed communications to the multipleapplications that were accessed by the user.

A major deficiency in the current state of the art for login systems isthat the login requires multiple interactions by the employee and theapplications can change with respect to time and employee preference. Amajor deficiency with the current state of the art for login messagingis that the system is either static or requires input by the employee oremployer for updated group ids. Neither the messaging nor the loginsystem keeps track of the employee preferences and both require manualupdate to function properly.

Another major deficiency of current state of the art is the ability toprovide supervisors availabilities of agents who may not have the rightskills but are interested in performing a task. With regard to managinglarge groups of employees, in particular remote employees, it isdifficult to monitor availabilities of each employee and skills setpossessed by each of the employees, let alone those who are interestedin performing the task. It is also difficult to provide alerts tosupervisors of employees when the availability of employees for aparticular task is below a certain threshold.

Therefore, what is needed is a multi-domain login and messaging solutionthat overcomes the manual input limitations currently experienced. Thissolution allows multiple domains to be logged into automatically,determines agent data and automatically finds pertinent message trafficto route to the agent. In addition, a need exists for a multi-domainpresence registration of multiple agents regardless whether the agentspossess skill sets that are required by the task and provide alerts tosupervisors when the need for more agents arises.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A method for multi-domain login is provided. A local password isinputted by an agent. A password vault is accessed with the localpassword. At least one hidden password is retrieved from the passwordvault. The agent is logged into at least one agent application using theat least one hidden password.

A method for multi-domain messaging is provided. Information of an agentis retrieved from a database. At least one skill group to which theagent belongs is retrieved from the information. A message linked to theat least one skill group is retrieved. The message is sent to the agent.In addition, the agent is subscribed to the at least one skill groupbased on a skill set possessed by the agent. The at least one skillgroup of the agent is stored in the database.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one skillgroup required for a task is located. At least one agent belonging tothe at least one skill group is located. A message pertinent to the atleast one skill group is retrieved. The message pertinent is then sentto the at least one agent.

A system for multi-domain login and messaging is provided. The systemcomprises at least one agent utilizing at least one system, acommunication server communicably coupled to the at least one system, adatabase communicably coupled to the communication server, anapplication communicably coupled to the communication server and thedatabase, the application comprising a password vault, and at least oneagent application communicably coupled to the application, theapplication is operable to login the at least one agent into the atleast one agent application utilizing at least one hidden password inthe password vault, retrieve information of the at least one agent fromthe database, retrieve at least one skill group to which the at leastone agent belongs from the information, retrieve a message linked to theat least one skill group, and send the message to the at least oneagent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a system for multi-domain login and messaging inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of a process for multi-domain login inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of a process for multi-domain messaging inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of a process for multi-domain messaging inaccordance with an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of a process for multi-domain messaging inaccordance with yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts a diagram of a system for registering presence ofmultiple agents in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart of a process for monitoring and registeringpresence of agents in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of a process for alerting supervisors basedon agents' availabilities in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 9 depicts a flowchart of a process for inviting agents to perform atask in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the figures and in particular with reference to FIG.1, a diagram of a system for multi domain login and messaging isdepicted in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. The agent102 interacts with a system 104 that is communicably coupled through theinternet 106 to the live communication server 108. System 104 may be adata processing system, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer,an Internet protocol-enabled device, such as an IP-enabled telephone, orany other type of device capable of sending and receive information viaa wired or wireless protocol. The communication server 108 iscommunicably coupled to a database 110 in which agent information isstored. The communication server 108 also communicates with application112, which authenticates and registers agents with the database 110. Theapplication 112 also communicates with other agent applications 112.Application 112 determines if there is an appropriate message for theagent from agent applications 114. If an appropriate message is found,the message is initiated by application 112 and is sent to the livecommunications server 108. The live communications server 108 thenforwards the message to system 104, which is then delivered to agent102. The transfer of information between system 104, communicationserver 108, application 112, database 110, and agent applications 114,may be accomplished via at least one of a wireless protocol, a wiredprotocol and a combination of a wireless protocol and a wired protocol.The steps performed in this figure are performed by software, hardware,firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware, and/or firmware.

To authenticate and register agents with database 110, one aspect of thepresent disclosure provides a method for multi-domain login, such thatthe agent may automatically be logged into agent applications withoutmanually inputting each individual password. With reference now to FIG.2, a flowchart of a process for multi-domain login is depicted inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment,process 200 may be implemented as instructions embodied in a computerreadable medium executing within system 104 by a software application,such as application 112.

Process 200 begins with step 202 to input a local password. The localpassword may be a password specified by the agent for application 112 ora host name of system 104. Process 200 then continues to step 204 toaccess a password vault with the local password. The password vault mayinclude a plurality of hidden passwords that are used to log the agentinto a plurality of agent applications, such as agent applications 114.Process 200 then continues to step 206 to retrieve at least one hiddenpassword from the password vault. Process 200 then completes at step 208to log the agent into at least one of the plurality of agentapplications using the at least one hidden password. In this way, theagent does not have to individually input the password for each of theagent applications.

It is noted that in addition to utilizing password vault and hiddenpassword to authenticate agents against multiple domains, authenticationmay be performed based on licensed seat name available at the time theagent logs into the application. By utilizing licensed seat name toauthenticate agents, per-seat licensing may be achieved. Per-seatlicensing provides a specific number of licenses for a period of time,which may be shared among a number of agents who are performing theirtasks. Per-seat licensing is preferred over per-user licensing, whichprovides a license to each agent, because it is more cost effective.More details regarding utilizing available license seat name availableto authenticate agents are discussed with reference to cross relatedpatent application Ser. No. 11/942,759, entitled MAINTAINING PER-SEATLICENSING ACROSS MULTIPLE HOME AGENTS, which is incorporated byreference above.

Once the agent is logged into agent applications, another aspect of thepresent disclosure provides a method for multi-domain messaging, suchthat agents may receive appropriate message from the agent applicationsbased on a skill group to which the agent belongs. The process in whichan agent is matched against a task is referred to as certification. Incertification, a set of skills possessed by the agent are matchedagainst a set of skills required by a particular task. For example, toperform a task for taking orders for a particular retailer, the agentmust complete a certain number of training courses about the productsthat the retailer offers. If the agent satisfies the trainingrequirements, the agent is certified to perform that task and isassigned a skilled group for that retailer. A task may require more thanone skill group.

With reference now to FIG. 3, a flowchart of a process for multi-domainmessaging is depicted in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. In this embodiment, process 300 may be implemented asinstructions embodied in a computer readable medium executing withinsystem 104 by a software application, such as application 112. Process300 begins at step 302 to retrieve agent information of theauthenticated agent from the database. The agent information may includethe set of skills possessed by the agent and skill groups to which theagent currently belongs to. Process 300 then continues to step 304 toretrieve at least one skill group to which the agent belongs based onthe skill set of the agent. Process 300 then continues to step 306 toretrieve at least one message linked to the at least one skill groupfrom the agent application. The message may include information aboutthe task to be performed by the agent. For example, the message mayinclude notification to agents that new products have become availablefor a task, new training is required for a task, new schedule a task hasbecome available, additional information about other products offered bya task, or an urgent need for an agent is available for a task. Inaddition, the message may include notification of best agents for thetask, reminders of a task, or any other information related to a task.By linking messages to skill groups, customized messages may be sent tothe agent based on the skill set the agent possesses. Process 300 thencompletes at step 308 to forward the message to the agent.

Sometimes, agents may subscribe to perform a new task based on theirskill sets. In addition to skill groups which agents already belong,agents may subscribe to new skill groups required by the task based ontheir skill sets and receive messages from the skill groups. Referringnow to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a process for multi-domain messaging isdepicted in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In this embodiment, process 400 may be implemented asinstructions embodied in a computer readable medium executing withinsystem 104 by a software application, such as application 112. Process400 begins with step 402 when an agent subscribes to at least one skillgroup based on a set of skills the agent possesses. For example, anagent may be interested in subscribing to a retailer that sells medicaldevices, because the agent possesses training required for sellingmedical products.

Process 400 then continues to step 404 to store the at least one skillgroup subscribed by the agent in the database. Once the at least oneskill group is subscribed, process 400 continues to step 406 to searchfor at least one message that is linked to the at least one skill groupsubscribed by the agent. Process 400 then continues to step 408 toretrieve the message linked to the at least one skill group from theagent application. Process 400 then completes at step 410 to forward themessage to the agent. In this way, not only are agents able to receivemessages from skill groups that they already subscribed, agents are alsoable to subscribe new skill groups based on their skill sets and toreceive messages from the new skill groups in order to perform theirtasks.

In addition to retrieving messages linked to agents based on their skillsets, another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method forbroadcasting messages to agents that belong to a skill group. Forexample, an urgent need may exist for authenticated agents for aparticular task. Messages may be sent to agents that possessed the setof skills required by the task by broadcasting messages to agentsbelonging to a particular skill group. Referring now to FIG. 5, aflowchart of a process for multi-domain messaging is depicted inaccordance with yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. Inthis embodiment, process 500 may be implemented as instructions embodiedin a computer readable medium executing within system 104 by a softwareapplication, such as application 112.

Process 500 begins at step 502 to locate at least one skill grouprequired for a task. For example, a skill group that includes aplurality of training requirements for selling medical devices. Process500 then continues to step 504 to locate at least one authenticatedagent belonging to the at least one skill group from the database. Sincethe database comprises information including skill sets of agents andskill groups which the agents have subscribed, a look up may beperformed in the database to determine which authenticated agentpossessed the required skill sets and subscribed to the at least oneskill group. Process 500 then continues to step 506 to retrieve messagespertinent to the at least one skill group from the agent application.Process 500 then completes at step 508 to send pertinent messages to theat least one authenticated agent belonging to the at least one skillgroup. In this way, messages may be broadcasted to authenticated agentsbelonging to at least one skill group.

In addition to sending agents of messages specific to their skillgroups, another aspect of present disclosure provides messagescustomized for the particular agent. For example, a message may be sentto the agent regarding new schedules available to the agent. A messagemay also be sent to the agent regarding pay or performance data of theagent. A message may also be sent to the agent to continue training orreview refresher material regarding skills already possessed by theagent. Since the agent may be paid based on the time required to set upfor a task, an aspect of the present disclosure also provides trainingmaterial directly to the agent prior to performing a specific task torefresh the agent. The training material may be delivered via variousformats, including messages, streaming videos, or a series of web pages.

In addition to messages to agents, another aspect of the presentdisclosure provides agent supervisors capability to initiate messages toagents based on the availability of the agents. In order to detectavailability of agents, another aspect of the present disclosure detectspresence of agents upon authentication and registers their presence.Referring to FIG. 6, a diagram of a system 600 for registering presenceof multiple agents is depicted in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. System 600 is similar to system 100 depicted in FIG.1, except that supervisor 620 interacts with a system 622 that iscommunicably coupled through the internet 606 to the live communicationserver 608. System 622 may be a data processing system, such as adesktop computer, a laptop computer, an Internet protocol-enableddevice, such as an IP-enabled telephone, or any other type of devicecapable of sending and receive information via a wired or wirelessprotocol. In addition to database 610 and application 612, thecommunication server 608 also communicates with supervisor application624, which monitors and registers presence of multiple agents. Thesupervisor application 624 provides indicators of agents' presence andavailabilities for each of tasks assigned. Upon determination that moreagents are required for a particular task, the supervisor may initiatemessages to alert agents having a skill set required by the task that anopportunity is available to perform the task. The transfer ofinformation between system 622, communication server 608, application612, database 610, agent applications 614, and supervisor application624, may be accomplished via at least one of a wireless protocol, awired protocol and a combination of a wireless protocol and a wiredprotocol. The steps performed in this figure are performed by software,hardware, firmware, and/or the combination of software, hardware, and/orfirmware.

Referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart of a process for monitoring andregistering presence of agents is depicted in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, process 700 maybe implemented as instructions embodied in a computer readable mediumexecuting within system 620 by a software application, such assupervisor application 624. Process 700 begins at step 702 to detectauthentication of agent. The authentication may be detected based onsuccessful multi-domain login accomplished using steps described inprocess 200 of FIG. 2.

Process 700 then continues to step 704 to identify at least one skillgroup to which the agent belongs. Upon identification of the at leastone skill group, process 700 continues to step 706 to register presenceof the agent for the at least one skill group. At this time, thesupervisor application may indicate to the supervisor that the agent isavailable. Process 700 then continues to step 706 to retrieve pertinentmessages for the at least one skill group and send the pertinentmessages to the authenticated agent at step 710. The agent continues tostep 712 to perform a task. At this time, the supervisor application mayindicate to the supervisor that the agent is busy. Process 700 thencontinues to step 714 to detect that the agent logs out of theapplication. Process 700 then completes at step 716 to deregisterpresence of the agent from the at least one skill group. At this time,the supervisor application may indicate to the supervisor that the agentis no longer available. It is noted that the indication by thesupervisor application to the supervisor may be presented in a number offormats, including the use of instant messages, color, sound, flashingtexts, or any other type of communication format.

In addition to monitoring and registering presence of agents, anotheraspect of the present disclosure provides alerts to supervisors if thenumber of available agents for a particular task falls below apredetermined threshold. Referring to FIG. 8, a flowchart of a processfor alerting supervisors based on agents' availabilities is depicted inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In thisexample, process 800 may be implemented as instructions embodied in acomputer readable medium executing within system 620 by a softwareapplication, such as supervisor application 624.

Process 800 begins with step 802 to monitor presence of agents inaccordance with steps described in process 700 of FIG. 7. Process 800then continues to step 804 to determine the number of agents availablefor at least one skill group required by a task. Process 800 continuesto step 806 to determine a predetermined threshold of the task, which isthe minimum number of agents required to perform the task. Thepredetermined threshold may be determined based on various factors,including but not limited to, for example, the number of products beingoffered by the task, time of day the task is being performed, and thelike. Process 800 then continues to step 808 to determine if the numberof available agents for the task is less than the predeterminedthreshold.

If the number of available agents is less than the predeterminedthreshold, process 800 continues to step 810 to send an alert to thesupervisor. It is noted that the alert may be sent by the supervisorapplication and may be presented in a number of formats, including theuse of instant messages, color, sound, flashing texts, or any other typeof communication format. If the supervisor wants to alert other agentsof the opportunity to perform the task, process 800 continues to step812 to identify other agents belonging to the at least one skill grouprequired by the task whose presence are not registered. Process 800 thencompletes at step 814 to send a message to those agents about theopportunity to perform that task.

Alternative to sending messages to agents who belong to the at least oneskill group, another aspect of the present disclosure may allow thesupervisor to initiate messages to agents who do not possess therequired skill set but are interested in performing the task and invitethe agents to complete training required for the task. If the agentcompletes the training required for the task, the agent may subscribe tothe at least one skill group required and perform the task.

Referring to FIG. 9, a flowchart of a process for inviting agents toperform a task is depicted in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. In this example, process 900 may be implemented asinstructions embodied in a computer readable medium executing withinsystem 620 by a software application, such as supervisor application624. Process 900 begins at step 902 to identify at least one skill grouprequired by the task. Process 900 then continues to step 904 to identifyagents who are not subscribed to the at least one skill group requiredby the task but are interested in performing the task.

Process 900 then continues to send a message to these agents about theopportunity to perform the task. Process 900 then proceeds to step 908to send training or other material required by the task to the agent whois interested in performing the task. The training material may bedelivered via various formats, including messages, streaming videos, ora series of web pages. The agent proceeds to step 910 to complete thetraining. Upon completion of training, process 900 continues to step 912to register presence of the agent for the at least one skill group andthe agent then completes process 900 at step 914 to perform the task. Inthis way, even agents who do not possess the skill sets required by thetask may complete training or other requirements and subscribe to theskill group to perform the task.

In summary, the present disclosure a method, a system, and computerreadable instructions for multi-domain login, messaging and presenceregistration. Although the above descriptions set forth preferredembodiments, it will be understood that there is no intent to limit theembodiment of the disclosure by such disclosure, but rather, it isintended to cover all modifications, substitutions, and alternateimplementations falling within the spirit and scope of the embodiment ofthe disclosure. The embodiments are intended to cover capabilities andconcepts whether they be via a loosely coupled set of components or theybe converged into one or more integrated components, devices, circuits,and/or software programs.

1. A method for multi-domain login comprising: inputting a localpassword by an agent; accessing a password vault with the localpassword; retrieving at least one hidden password from the passwordvault; determining a message for the agent from at least one agentapplication, wherein the message comprises at least one of a messageindicating a new product has become available for a task, a messageindicating a new training is required for a task, a message indicating anew schedule for a task has become available, a message indicatingadditional information about the task, and an urgent need for an agentis available for a task; and logging the agent into at least one agentapplication using the at least one hidden password.
 2. A method of claim1, wherein multi-domain messaging comprising: retrieving information ofthe agent from a database; retrieving at least one skill group to whichthe agent belongs from the information; retrieving the message linked tothe at least one skill group; and sending the message to the agent. 3.The method of claim 2, further comprising: subscribing the agent to theat least one skill group based on a skill set possessed by the agent;and storing the at least one skill group of the agent in the database.4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: locating at least oneskill group required for a task; locating at least one agent belongingto the at least one skill group; retrieving a message pertinent to theat least one skill group; and sending the message pertinent to the atleast one agent.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein information of anagent comprises a set of skills possessed by the agent and at least oneskill group to which the agent belongs.
 6. The method of claim 2,wherein the at least one skill group comprises at least one agentpossessing a set of skills required for a task.
 7. The method of claim2, wherein the message is customized for at least one of the at leastone skill group or the agent.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thepassword vault comprises at least one hidden password for logging intothe at least one agent application.
 9. A system for multi-domain loginand messaging comprising: at least one agent utilizing at least onesystem; a communication server communicably coupled to the at least onesystem; a database communicably coupled to the communication server; anapplication communicably coupled to the communication server and thedatabase, the application comprising a password vault; and at least oneagent application communicably coupled to the application, theapplication is operable to login the at least one agent into the atleast one agent application utilizing at least one hidden password inthe password vault, retrieve information of the at least one agent fromthe database, retrieve at least one skill group to which the at leastone agent belongs from the information, retrieve a message linked to theat least one skill group, and send the message to the at least oneagent, wherein the message comprises at least one of a messageindicating a new product has become available for a task, a messageindicating a new training is required for a task, a message indicating anew schedule for a task has become available, a message indicatingadditional information about the task, and an urgent need for an agentis available for a task.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein theapplication is further operable to input a local password by the atleast one agent, access the password vault with the local password,retrieve at least one hidden password from the password vault, and logthe at least one agent into at least one agent application using the atleast one hidden password.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein theapplication is further operable to subscribe the at least one agent tothe at least one skill group based on a skill set possessed by the atleast one agent, and store the at least one skill group of the at leastone agent in the database.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein theapplication is further operable to locate at least one skill grouprequired for a task, locate at least one agent belonging to the at leastone skill group, retrieve a message pertinent to the at least one skillgroup, and send the message pertinent to the at least one agent.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the password vault comprises at least onehidden password for logging into the at least one agent application. 14.The system of claim 9, wherein information of the at least one agentcomprises a set of skills possessed by the at least one agent and atleast one skill group to which the at least one agent belongs.
 15. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least one skill group comprises atleast one agent possessing a set of skills required for a task.
 16. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsexecutable in at least one processor for multi-domain login, comprisinginstructions for: inputting a local password by an agent; accessing apassword vault with the local password; retrieving at least one hiddenpassword from the password vault; determining a message for the agentfrom at least one agent application, wherein the message comprises atleast one of a message indicating a new product has become available fora task, a message indicating a new training is required for a task, amessage indicating a new schedule for a task has become available, amessage indicating additional information about the task, and an urgentneed for an agent is available for a task; and logging the agent into atleast one agent application using the at least one hidden password. 17.The non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 16, furthercomprising instructions for: retrieving information of an agent from adatabase; retrieving at least one skill group to which the agent belongsfrom the information; retrieving a message linked to the at least oneskill group; and sending the message to the agent.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage of claim 17, further comprisinginstructions for: subscribing the agent to the at least one skill groupbased on a skill set possessed by the agent; and storing the at leastone skill group of the agent in the database.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage of claim 17, further comprising instructionsfor: locating at least one skill group required for a task; locating atleast one agent belonging to the at least one skill group; retrieving amessage pertinent to the at least one skill group; and sending themessage pertinent to the at least one agent.